International Women's Day 2023 – putting amazing women in the spotlight

To celebrate International Women's Day 2023, Australian Sailing is proud to shine the spotlight on amazing women from across the country who are doing exceptional work in their sailing community.

TAS - Introducing Bridget Hutton:

Bridget Hutton has been a Race Officer for many years and continues to be an active part of the Tasmanian sailing community. As a volunteer, she is often found supporting various sailing regattas whether it be an off the beach class or keelboats. She has been the Race Officer for the Tasmanian Women’s Keelboat Regatta in the past and will again be their Race Officer on March 4th and 5th. 

‘Being a Race Officer combines two of my great loves – spending time on the water and being with my family. My brother and niece are Race Officers and my nephew coaches young sailors and sails competitively. We’ve been around boats all our life’.
‘I love the challenge of being a Race Officer - balancing the technical aspects and the need for precision, with all the moving parts of wind and water and managing a great team of volunteers. We aim to give competitors a safe, fair and enjoyable race. It’s never dull.’
‘One of the great aspects of sailing is that it’s one of the few sports where women and men compete in the same competition. Whole families are involved in sailing and you make friends for life’.

ACT - Introducing Sue Hart:

Canberra Yacht Club Commodore Sue Hart has been a longstanding member, sailing participant and outstanding contributor to her Club. Sue has served on the Canberra Yacht Club Committee initially as Rear Commodore Operations since 2005, then Vice Commodore from 2011-2016. In 2017 she took on the role of Club Commodore and continues in that position. She has also, in mid 2022, taken on the role of Secretary of Yachting ACT. As Club Commodore, Sue has led the Club with success, flair and distinction through the major challenges of COVID, and through redefinition of the Club’s long term relationship with its major supporter and infrastructure provider to a far more secure and sustainable outcome.

Her contribution is characterised by improvement in outcomes across the full gamut of Club activity. Under her leadership, the Canberra Yacht Club has grown and strengthened in all aspects of its operations: Racing, regattas, sailing school and its valued inclusion programs, Sailability and Buoyed Up, to name just some. Out of an extremely busy workload, Sue takes every available opportunity to sail, racing in the CYC’s strong Trailables Division.  Thank you Sue for all you do!

NSW- Introducing the Currawong Crew:

Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham of the Currawong Crew are the first female two-handed crew to compete in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, finishing mere moments before the New Year fireworks. 
The dynamic duo are a perfect example of increasing female participation by inspiring women to take part in double-handed offshore sailing. We are in awe of what these two can do and what they have achieved! Let them inspire all of us to get involved and chase our dreams!

NT- Introducing Alanna Field:

Alanna has been involved in instructing, coaching, administration, and promotion of sailing for almost 10 years. She moved to Darwin from Geelong at the age of 18 for a gap year to continue working as an instructor and hasn’t left. Alanna now manages the DSC Training Academy that operates 7 days a week with 20+ instructors.
In 2022 with a focus on increasing the overall participation in training & pathway programs it was smashed out of the park with a growth of 81% and an increased number of boats on the water each week as a result. This is a testament to the dedication and enthusiasm that Alanna brings to her role and the desire to see more people out on the water enjoying sailing. In addition, she has also been instrumental in introducing a double handed junior fleet giving up her time most weeks to get it off the ground and teach junior sailors how to sail International Cadets with the hope to see some on the racecourse in 2023.
Alanna recently accredited as a Regional Judge, one of only two in the NT (and the only female). She is now looking to travel interstate to Regattas to gain further experience in Officiating.

QLD- Introducing the amazing team of Instructors and mentors, led by Jasmine Ruck and Michaela Hanson, at Southport Yacht Club:

The team have spent time getting feedback from participants and identifying the target audience that is quite specific to Oxenford Lake. They found that they deal with a lot of females who are completely new to sailing or have been scared by prior experiences with husbands, friends, or partners. To further support women and girls in their community, they have started She Sails at their club by beginning with a more social sailing aspect that encourages females to sail with a female mentor or instructor on a Hobie Wave Catamaran on the lake.  The goal is to retain females in the program and help them develop their interest to continue sailing.

WA - Introducing Chelsea Hall from the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club:

Chelsea Hall is an inspirational sailor, Instructor and Coach, who also holds the position of Training Centre Principal and Coaching Coordinator at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in WA.

Chelsea leads a team of Instructors and Coaches at RFBYC who are dedicated, engaged and enthused about the work they do, to promote the sport of sailing. As a result of the team’s work, led by Chelsea, RFBYC continually find themselves at the top of the Top 10 Discover Sailing Centres in Australia.
In addition to her commitment to the sport of sailing generally, Chelsea is also a strong promoter of female participation and SheSails initiatives, promoting fun and adventure for females in a friendly and safe environment. 

Chelsea is a fantastic role model in all areas of our sport, where she both leads a team performing excellent work to promote sailing and sustain its future, whilst also supporting female participation.

VIC- Introducing Janet Wilks from Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron:

We are thrilled to highlight and support a female entrepreneur in the sailing industry – Janet Wilks, the owner and operator of Wilksie Marine. Based out of Williamstown, Wilksie Marine provides a wide range of yacht rigging services, including wire standing rigging, running rigging, furlers, mast fittings, booms, and halyards.

With the support of local shipwrights and riggers, Wilksie Marine has been serving the sailing community for 1.5 years. Janet's passion for sailing is evident in her work, and she has been actively involved in the sport for the past 3 years, recently starting ocean racing.

Janet's sailing experience includes competing in the Melbourne to Hobart race this past summer aboard Hartbreaker. She also sails on Sunshine, an Adams 10, based out of Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron and sponsors Sunshine's women's team for their entry in the Port Phillip Women's Series and the Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta.
At a time when gender equality and representation in traditionally male-dominated industries are becoming more important, it is inspiring to see women like Janet making a name for themselves in the sailing industry. We are proud to support Janet and Wilksie Marine and look forward to seeing more of her accomplishments in the future.

SA - Introducing Ella Anderson:

Ella is extremely active assisting around Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club as both an instructor and coach and we really appreciate Ella giving up her time last year to feature in our instructor promotional video that you can view below; thank you Ella and keep up the great work!